Ironing unit



March 27, 1956 J. CARLSEN 2,73

IRONING UNIT Filed Oct. 3, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTOR JAIL mm U BY /TQAMI k/MM ATTORNEY J. CARLSEN IRONING UNIT March 27, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 3. 1952 INVENTOR ATTORNEY March 27, 1956 J. CARLSEN 2,739,398

' IRONING UNIT Filed Oct. 5, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet I5 INVENTOR 44 ar/yen G C BY M 4" ATTORNEY March 27, 1956 J, CARLSEN 2,739,398

IRONING UNIT Filed Oct. 3, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 @9 fig: m.

INVENTOR .754) ar/sen 0 BY ATTORNEY Unite States Pate IRONING UNIT John Carlsen, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark Application October 3, 1952, Serial No. 312,939

3 Claims. (Cl. 38107) This invention relates to equipment for use in the ironing of clothes and other similar articles, particularly though not exclusively for domestic purposes.

For ironing purposes it is customary to place the article to be ironed on an ironing board which is in most cases constructed with collapsible legs so that it may be stowed away without taking up too much space. The ironing is usually performed by means of an electrical fiat iron that forms a separate unit and must be stowed away separately. The necessity of separately stowing away the board and the iron and again separately producing same for use is rather inconvenient, because confusion may arise as to the stowing places of both. Besides, when the iron is to be stowed away, it is usually hot and therefore may cause damage to its surroundings, if the necessary care is not taken to avoid this. The supply wire of the iron is difiicult to disposed of and may likewise be damaged by the hot iron. The iron is not protected against mechanical injury during storage. During use of the iron the supply wire is likely to interfere with the article to be ironed, so that it is frequently difficult to obtain a smooth running of the ironing process.

It is an object of this invention to combine all the equipment necessary for the ironing process in one unit of a character such that it may be stowed away on a relatively narrow space immediately after use without damaging its surroundings and may again be produced and made ready for use in a convenient manner and in a minimum of time.

Another object of the invention is to construct an ironing unit in such a manner that the supply wire is automatically taken care of and will not be of any inconvenience neither during storage nor during use.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel combinations of elements to be described in the following detailed specification and to be defined in their general aspects in the appended claims.

Reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of one form of an ironing unit according to the invention,

Fig. 2 a vertical longitudinal section through one end of same,

Fig. 3 the same end of the ironing unit as viewed from the bottom,

Fig. 4 a longitudinal section through one end of a modified form of an ironing unit according to the invention,

Fig. 5 a vertical longitudinal section through a further modification,

Fig. 6 a plan view of the latter,

Fig. 7 a vertical cross section through a still further modification, and

Figs. 8-11 illustrate an example of the detailed construction of parts of the embodiment of Fig. 7.

Referring first to Figs. 1-3, 1 is an ironing board of the collapsible type, the collapsible legs thereof being diagrammatically indicated at 2. At one end the ironing unit 1 comprises a portion 3 covered with an ironing felt and carrying a suitable plate 4 or the like serving as a support for a hot flat iron, when in use.

Permanently associated with the ironing board is a flat iron 5 having a supply wire 6 extending thereto from the upper end of a flexible upright 7 mounted on the ironing board 1. From the top of the upright 7, the supply wire extends along the latter and is clamped thereto at suitable intervals, and below the table the supply wire ends in a length of free cable 8 carrying a plug 9.

For receiving the flat iron 5 when the unit formed by the ironing board and the flat iron is to be stowed away, a drawer 10 is provided under the ironing board 1 at the end of the portion 3. The drawer 10 is slidable under the board 1 in suitable guides 11 and is provided with a handle 12 and a suitable closure 13 for locking the drawer in a position under the board. The drawer may e. g. be made from sheet metal and is provided at its bottom with two bent up lugs 14 and 15 forming a seat for the flat iron. In the embodiment shown, an insulating strip 16 e. g. of asbestos is secured to the lug 15 and serves to support the hot bottom of the flat iron, while the lug 14 serves as a direct support for the non-heated rear portion of the flat iron. It will be seen that, even if the flat iron is hot, very little heat can be conducted to the body of the drawer, and thus if the ironing unit is stowed away with the hot iron in the drawer, there will not be any danger of damage to the surroundings.

When the flat iron 5 is put in the drawer after the latter has been drawn out to theposition shown in Fig. l, the supply wire 6 is received in a suitable notch at the top of the outer wall of the drawer so as to extend through the said wall and from there around the rear edge of the board to the top of the flexible upright 7. As illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the latter can then be swung down to a position substantially along the surface of the ironing board, a hook 1'7 being provided for holding the upright in that position.

The legs 2 of the ironing board can now be collapsed to a position in which they extend closely along the latter and thereafter the whole ironing unit has been collapsed to a compact fiat object that can easily be stowed away on a minimum of space. This can be done immediately after use, when the iron is still hot, seeing that as previously described the iron is adequately heat insulated from the surroundings.

When the ironing unit is to be taken into use again, all that is necessary is to pull out the legs 2, to detach the flexible upright '7 from the hook l7 and to produce the iron 5 from the drawer it During use, the supply wire 6 will always be kept in a lifted position by the upright '7, the latter swaying to and fro as the fiat iron is moved along the ironing board. There is therefore no danger of the supply wire interfering with the article to be ironed.

In the embodiment of Fig. 4, the drawer 10 has been replaced by a stationary compartment 18 provided under an opening 19 of the ironing board. The compartment 18 has walls 20 and 21 and a bottom 22 of sheet metal. The bottom 22 is provided with bent up lugs 14' and 15' and astrip of insulating material 16' in exactly the same manner as the bottom of the drawer in Figs. 1-3. Besides, the wall 21 is shown as being provided with an abutment 23 for the rear end 24 of the handle of the fiat iron.

The compartment 18 is closed at the top by means of a cover 25, which is hinged at 26 and extends substantially in the level of the ironing board. In the example shown, the cover is zigzag shaped and provided at its bottom side with an angular member 27, so that the cover can be used as an inclined support for the 'hot iron both in its closed and in its open position as indicated in dotted lines at and 5". 28 is a rotatable knob for securing the cover in its closed position. A notch may be provided at one -longitudinal edge of the "cover for the passage of the supply wire 6 when the fiat iron "is deposited in the compartment 18. A flexible upright 7 is mounted on the board in the same manner as in Figs. l-3, and there may also be provided a-hook like the hook 17 and collapsible legs like legs 2 in Figs. l-3.

In the embodiment of Fig. '5, the ironing board is provided with an opening 29 and a cover 30 extending across said opening and being hinged at 31. A rotatable lcnob 32 is provided for securing the cover in closed position. In the closed position, the cover is suitable as a support for the hot fiat iron 5 and for this purpose may 'be provided with pressed up ribs 33. Upon rotation of the knob 32, the cover may be swung back around the hinging axis 31 to receive the iron in inverted position on its bottom side. For this purpose the cover 30 is provided on its bottom side with supports 34 and 35 for the bottom of the iron, and besides, with an inclined support 36 for supporting the tip 37 of the ilat iron from below. Moreover, there is provided on the bottom side of the cover 30 a hook member 5% for gripping and holding the rear end 39 of the flat iron from below. The hook member 38 is pivoted at 40 and is urged towards the flat iron by a spring 41, an abutment 42 being provided for limiting the movement of the hook member 38 in this direction. From the hinging axis 31 the cover 39 is extended towards the edge of the opening 29 and is bent down along the edge to form a limb 43.

It will be understood that when it is desired to attach the flat iron to the seat formed by the bottom side of the cover 30, the latter is first opened and the tip 37 of the flat iron is then pushed in between the supporting members 35 and 36.

The rear end 39 of the flat iron is brought into .position in contact with the supporting member 34 and during this procedure the hook member 38 is capable of yielding because it has been moved to a position remote from the edge of the opening 29. The cover 30 is now closed again and secured by means of the knob 32. Now, the hook member 33 can no longer yield because it is in a position immediately adjacent to the edge of the wall 29, and the fiat iron is therefore securely held in the seat formed on the bottom side of the cover.

As illustrated the cover is constructed'with longitudinal side walls 44, one of these being provided with a notch 45 for the passage of the supply wire 6 when the flat iron is in position in the seat formed on the bottom side of the cover. A flexible upright 7 is mounted on the ironing board as in the other embodiments, and also the hook for gripping the collapsed upright 7 and the collapsible legs may be constructed as hereinbefore described.

In the embodiment of Fig. 7, the ironing board is provided with an opening 46 in which there is inserted a shallow cup shaped member 47 having a fiat bottom 48 with pressed up ribs 49 forming a suitable support for the hot flat iron when in use. When the ironing unit is to be stowed away, the flat iron remains in the seat thus formed and is securely held therein by means of gripping members 50 hingedly engaged with the bottom 48 at 51 and adapted to be operated from the releasing position shown in full lines to the gripping pos'ition shown in dotted lines at 50' by means .of .a manually operable toggle mechanism 52, 53, .54.

An example of the construction of the gripping :me'mbers 50 and the slots of the bottom 48 for hingedly re- -ceiv-ing same is illustrated in Figs. 8-11 that are considered selflexplanatory.

A flexible upright, a hook for holding the latter in a collapsed position along the ironing board, and collapsible legs may be provided as in the embodiment previously described.

I claim:

1. A collapsible ironing board, said board being provided with an aperture at one end large enough to receive an electric iron, a lid for closing the aperture hinged to the board at one edge of the aperture, and means mounted -on the bottom of the "lid for engaging the sole of an electric iron to support the iron 'on the lid with the sole thereof flat against the bottom of the lid, said means comprising spring actuated clip means disposed on the bottom of the lid which is arranged to engage the sole of the iron at a plurality of spaced points, and means responsive to the closing of said lid to lock said clip means in supporting relation with the sole of the iron.

2. A collapsible ironing board, said board being provided with an aperture at one end large enough to receive an electric iron, a lid for closing the aperture hinged to the'board by hinge means mounted at one edge of the aperture, and means on the bottom of the lid for engaging the sole of an electric iron to support the iron on the lid with the sole thereof fiat against the bottom of the lid, said last-mentioned means comprising a plurality of spaced clips including a first clip fixed to the lid to engage the toe of the sole of the iron and a second clip resiliently supported on the lid to engage the heel of the sole of the iron, said second clip being "disposed adjacent said hinge means for the lid and being so located that when the lid is closed over the aperture the edge of the aperture adjacent the hinge prevents movement of the second clip to release the iron.

3. A collapsible ironing board, said board being provided with an aperture at one end large enough to "receive anelectric iron, a lid for closing theaperture hinged to the board by hinge means mounted at one edge of the aperture, and means on the bottom of the lid for engaging the stile of an-electric iron to support the iron on the lid with the sole thereof flat against the bottom of the lid, said last-mentioned means comprising a plurality of spaced clips including a first clip fixed to the lid to engage the toe of the sole of the iron and a second clip resiliently supported on the lid to engage the heel of the sole of the iron, said second clip being so located that when the lid is closed 'over the aperture the edge of the aperture adjacent the hinge means prevents movement-o'f the clip to release the iron, and latch means to lock said lid in its closed position.

References Cited in the idle of this patent 

